Breath of Life
by Kurohane Ookami
Summary: It's been several years since the battle with Pitch. But now, the Seven Sins have escaped their prison. Hopelessly outnumbered, North must make a decision that could either lead to victory, or death. "I don't want to press ze button! Big Mama will come if we press ze button!" M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Well. This particular fic was spawned spontaneously about five minutes after seeing ROTG, and I'm pleased to announce that I've actually done a lot of character research for this one. So, I hope you all enjoy this crack spawned piece of literature. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. However, I do own Mother Nature.**

o-o-o-o

_Once, long ago, when the world was still new and bare, there came a time when the Man in the Moon looked down upon the empty planet. He knew that there was life on the lonely planes, suffering species that would soon perish if nothing was done to keep the balance. _

_He looked down upon a tribe of nomadic peoples, journeying through perilous conditions, and set his sights on a young woman. She was simply clad, as were most of the others, but it was her care and love that she showered onto a child not her own that made him think of something that he could do. _

_There was a need for peace, to keep the balance of the unstable world safe from harm, along with its inhabitants. And Man in the Moon knew that he himself could not do it. No, he needed to choose one of the humans on the Earth for this task. One who knew love and compassion, and would not hesitate to defend it if ever called. _

_So, with this task in his mind, the Man in the Moon began to scour the Earth for one who would live up to this task. One with a compassionate heart, with courage and strength, and the ability to love any and everything. _

_It took a great many years before he found her. _

_She was from a large island near what would later become Europe. She was a mother: gentle, kind, and forgiving, but with a firm hand. _

_He chose her. _

_Her time came when a wild beast went after her child. The child was terrified, rightfully so, and could not do anything to defend against the vicious attack that was about to end its life. _

_But at the last second, she appeared, shielding her child with her own body. _

_That kind of sacrifice, that hope that had flickered in her even as her life drained away from her didn't fade. It grew stronger. It had given her the hope that her child would be able to live a long and happy life. It had given her the ability to sacrifice and defend her child without remorse. _

_The Man in the Moon looked down upon her still form, and then she changed. _

_She became Natura, Mother of the Earth. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey! Watch the eggs, mate!"

North froze in mid-step, looking quite comical in his crimson coat and heavily furred boots as he wandered around the Warren. Above in the trees, Jack lazed, one leg hanging off a branch as a warm breeze tangled with his snowy hair. Tooth watched the Winter Spirit with a longing smile on her face, Baby Teeth continuously swooning over the teen. Sandman _had_ been over by the paint river that ran through the Warren, but at this point no one was quite sure where the little golden being had disappeared to.

Bunnymund, on the other hand, was anywhere and everywhere, the usual hustle and bustle of the impending Easter looming above the Pooka's head.

"Sorry." North grinned sheepishly, carefully putting his foot down around the egg that had scurried under his leg moments before. "Very fast eggs, yes?"

"Yes, mate. Ah'd know, considerin' this is _mah_ Warren." The Pooka drawled, urging several pink eggs on towards the next station that was specifically created for them to be painted. "Just make sure you don' step on any. Ah'd have to kill you."

Jack snorted suddenly, bolting upright and nearly sending himself falling to the mossy ground. Blinking, he yawned, rubbing his eyes before settling himself back down again, muttering something unpleasant under his breath about Easter. No one really paid him any mind; the Winter Spirit often did these sorts of things when he was still half asleep. Bunnymund seemed to be the only one that his insults were continually aimed at, however, which earned God knows how many light jabs at the Pooka's pride.

The Warren was continuing to flourish as time went on. Every year, the moss seemed to grow that much softer, the trees more lush. It was one of the mysteries that came with being a Guardian. These things just seemed to happen to you, whether you realized it or not.

"Jack, you not have anything done for snow?" North asked curiously as the Winter Spirit flinched in his light doze.

"Mhm…" the teen mumbled. "But it's not due 'til tomorrow."

"Ah. I see." North replied, though at the moment the statement didn't make all that much sense to him. But who was he to challenge the statement? Jack was a Winter Spirit. He had his own agenda, his own events that he was needed to do that the older Guardians wouldn't even be able to understand.

Shrugging, the large man went back to wandering around and taking closer looks at the functions that the Warren ran through to get ready for Easter. Perhaps he could use several of these ideas in his own workshop to get the toys made more quickly…

**-;-**

"I'm bored…"

"Who cares?" came the scathing reply.

"Now, now, Avaritia. Don't snap at Luxuria so."

"Shut it, Superbia. No one asked you." Avaritia snarled, grey eyes flashing as she whirled in a blur of purple. The stone outcropping she was perched on seemed to shimmer for several long moments as she and Superbia stared at one another. The male in question, a pale skinned brunette with darker brown eyes, held his own against the seething woman, and finally, she looked away.

"Luxuria, are you sure there is nothing for you to do in order to keep yourself occupied?" Superbia continued on, as if he hadn't been interrupted in the first place. He remained seated at the small stone table carved to appear as though it were from an era long past, a brow raised in question delicately.

"Yep." Came the groaned reply from the male in question.

"Have you checked in on our lovely old friends yet this century?" came a suggestion from a white haired, blue eyed woman lying on the stone floor of their home and staring up towards the high cavern ceiling. "Our reserves wouldn't be all that depleted if we were to send you out. Besides, it will give me something to be envious about later."

"Really, Invidia?" another male snorted, shaking shaggy black hair out of his crimson eyes. "Envious? You're really using that line _again_?"

"It's not like I have anything better to do!" the woman protested, shaking her own hair out of her eyes with a haughty air. "Other than plan to get back at that stupid Guardian responsible for sending me here, of course. Oh wait; I forgot. Can't cause we're trapped in this tiny little cave with no one but each other for company."

"Ah…I do recall our lovely cousin Pitch had a hand in that, once upon a time. I wonder if he ended up going crazy like I said he would." Yet another male added softly, grey eyes soft behind his glasses. Brown hair hung over a shoulder, and as he spoke he barely looked up from a scroll that he was reading. "Do say hello to him for me while you're out and about."

"If he's even alive. Last we saw him, he wasn't looking too good, Gula." The black haired male grinned ferally.

"And I wonder whose fault that would be, _Ira_?" Avaritia snorted.

"Well I can say that it wasn't mine, considering _you_ were the one who got distracted at the last second instead of landing the killing blow on the miserable little Sandman." Luxuria chimed in, eyes gleaming.

"That is true…honestly, Invidia. How could you become so riled up over those _feathers_?" Avaritia bit out, a sneer on her features.

"Better than you, Avaritia. At least I wasn't the one who wanted the red coat for yourself." Invidia snarled back. Within seconds, the cavern was full of angry shouts and the sounds of fists hitting flesh. Gula and Superbia shook their heads, Superbia looking to his female counterpart, Acedia, who looked as though she had nodded off at some point in the last several moments. He wished he could do that at this point, if only to drown out the usual bickering of their siblings.

"Why me?" he sighed to himself, banging his head down onto the table and heaving a sigh.


End file.
